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Wedertish v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-319 (5/26/2006)
Special Master Millman has found that hepatitis B can cause MS. Please see the related decision, Stevens v. Sec'y of HHS, below for the court's complete reasoning.
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Peugh v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-638 (4/21/2006)
Special Master Millman has found that hepatitis B can cause GBS. Please see the related decision, Stevens v. Sec'y of HHS, below for the court's complete reasoning.
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Gilbert v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 04-455 (3/30/2006)
Special Master Millman has found that hepatitis B can cause CIDP. Please see the related decision, Stevens v. Sec'y of HHS, below for the court's complete reasoning.
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Capizzano v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 05-5049 (3/9/2006)
On March 9, 2006, in a clear victory for petitioners in the Vaccine Program, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued Capizzano v. Sec'y. The Court held, once again, that petitioners need not present peer-reviewed scientific literature to prevail. It is enough, the Court said, if a petitioner provides a medical theory linking an injury to the vaccine, a logical sequence of cause and effect between the vaccine and the injury (significantly, the Court found that the opinions of treating doctors should be given great evidentiary weight when considering the logical sequence of cause and effect), and an appropriate temporal relationship between them. This can be accomplished, the Court stated, by medical records or by an expert opinion. Peer-reviewed literature, pathological markers, rechallenge and general medical acceptance, are unnecessary. Once a petitioner has provided this information, the Court said, he or she will be compensated unless the government show the injury was caused by something else. In the past, special masters have discounted the opinions of treating physicians unless they were supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature.
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Stevens v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-594 (2/24/2006)
On February 24, 2006, Special Master Laura Millman ruled that a hepatitis B vaccine caused an adult woman to suffer transverse myelitis (TM), a serious neurological, demyelinating disorder. The evidence in this case was stronger than most, because the petitioner suffered two separate episodes of TM after two separate hepatitis B vaccines (a "challenge/rechallenge" case). However, significantly, the Special Master also found probative value in a variety of pieces of circumstantial evidence, such as an appropriate temporal relationship between the vaccines and the episodes of TM, the absence of another likely cause, similar case reports, the opinions of the petitioner's treating doctors, and other cases of vaccine-related TM filed in the Vaccine Program. This decision, we believe, bodes well for numerous other petitioners who allege that a hepatitis B vaccine caused a neurological demyelinating disorder.
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Snyder v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 94-58 (2/9/06)
In 1994, Barbara Snyder filed a claim alleging a rubella vaccine caused her to suffer chronic arthralgia (joint pain) and fibromyalgia. Barbara died on April 28, 2005 before a decision was made in her case. On May 6, 2005, eight (8) days after Barbara's death, a special master issued a decision denying her claim. Conway, Homer & Chin-Caplan appealed the case on behalf of her estate. On February 9, 2006, Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reversed the special master's decision and ruled that Barbara's estate is entitled to compensation. Judge Wheeler ruled that live expert testimony is unnecessary for a petitioner to be successful in the Program, especially if the opinions of treating doctors contained in the medical records link the vaccine to the injury. He also ruled that once a petitioner proves an injury was probably caused by a vaccine, the government, to defeat the claim, must prove something else actually caused the injury. It is not enough, he ruled, for the government to merely offer another explanation for the injury.
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Fernandez v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-0492 (9/22/05)
A one year-old boy suffered an intractable seizure disorder beginning four days after receiving a measles-mumps-rubella ("MMR") vaccination. Nearly 3 years later, he died as a result of the seizure disorder. The special master found that the MMR was a substantial factor in bringing about the boy's fever which prompted a complex febrile seizure disorder, which ultimately caused the child's death.
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Kelley v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 02-223 (8/31/05)
A 14 year-old boy suffered a permanent nervous system disorder, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy ("CIDP"), after receiving a tetanus toxoid ("TT") vaccine. The chief special master in the Vaccine Program dismissed his case because: "Based on the lack of support from the medical community and absence of medical literature. . . petitioner's assertions that the TT vaccine can cause CIDP must. . .fail." A judge at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, following Althen v. Sec'y of HHS (see, the Federal Circuit Athen decision below), held: "The court finds that the chief special master's decision in Kelley does not reflect the standard of proof for a non-table injury under the Vaccine Act as set forth by the Federal Circuit in Althen and is therefore contrary to law."
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Althen v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 04-5146v (Federal Circuit - 7/29/05)
In Althen v. Sec'y of HHS, a landmark decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court lightened the burden of proof for petitioners in the Vaccine Program. Previously, the courts had described a petitioner's burden as "heavy lifting." However, the Court made clear a person need only show a vaccine was the likely cause of the injury. While expert testimony will still be necessary to prove a claim, the expert may base the opinion on circumstantial evidence, rather than direct, objective conclusive scientific evidence. A petitioner need only show: (1) a medical theory causally connecting the vaccine and the injury; (2) a logical sequence of cause and effect showing the vaccine is the reason for the injury; and (3) a proximate temporal relationship between the vaccine and the injury. Close questions of causation, the Court ruled, should be decided in favor of the petitioner.
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Camerlin v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-615v (10/29/03)
An 8-month-old boy had an ear infection. Eleven days later, he received an Hib vaccine, after which he spiked a fever to 105, became lethargic, and was diagnosed with transverse myelitis (TM). The special master found that the Hib vaccine stimulated t-cells that had been previously stimulated by the ear infection, and was a substantial contributing factor to the injury and > "> but for> "> the vaccine, he would not have suffered TM.
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Althen v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 00-170v (Federal Claims Court-9/30/03)
A 49-year-old woman suffered a permanent nervous system disorder after a tetanus vaccine. A special master in vaccine Program dismissed her case because she had insufficient scientific literature to support her claim. However, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reversed the decision and found in favor of the woman. The absence of literature, the Court found, was not fatal to her claim. She needed only a reliable expert opinion, a strong temporal relationship between the vaccine and the onset of symptoms, and a logical sequence of cause and effect. This case overruled the Stevens decision.
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Stevens v. Sec'y of HHS; No. 99-594v (3/30/01)
A woman suffered transverse myelitis after a hepatitis B injection. The Chief Special Master ruled that a successful claimant in the Vaccine Program person had to prove a vaccine caused an injury with 5 evidentiary > "> Prongs,> "> including 1)proof of medical plausibility 2)proof of the existence of peer reviewed literature associating the specific vaccine with the specific injury 3)proof of a recognized injury 4)proof of an appropriate temporal relationship between the vaccine and the injury and 5)proof that nothing else caused the injury. Althen overruled this case.
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